Album Themes

Various Artists

1960s School Party Night

AllMusic Review
by Tim Sendra

1960s School Party Night looks like a swinging soundtrack for a '60s party with a British slant (thanks to tracks by artists who never really made it in America like P.J. Proby, the Swinging Blue Jeans, and Helen Shapiro). The emphasis is on light and polite rockers by the likes of Bruce Channel ("Hey Baby"), Del Shannon ("Runaway"), and the Supremes ("Baby Love"), perfect for balloons, lemonade, and pillow fights. Actually, you will want to use your pillow to muffle the horrible sound of re-recorded versions of the hits coming from your speakers. Almost all the tracks here are stiff and modern recuts of the lively originals, and while they mostly hew pretty closely to the original's sound, there is no way the performers can capture the exuberance and power they had years ago. File this in the junk pile, and as always, beware of anything on the K-Tel label, since the label seems to have made duping the CD-buying public its main focus.